There
has been a significant rise in the number of people applying for teacher
training courses, according to Government figures.
Primary
applications are up 19 per cent on last year, while secondary subjects are up
11 per cent.
Just
more than 34,000 people had applied for Postgraduate Certificate in Education
courses in England by 22 March this year, compared to 29,445 at the same point
in 2002.
Applications
for secondary shortage subjects are all up on this time last year:
–
Maths by 25 per cent
–
English by 10 per cent
–
Science by 12 per cent
–
Modern languages by three per cent
–
Technology by 40 per cent, including information technology up by 73 per cent
David
Miliband, school standards minister, said that the Government’s recruitment
measures include £6,000 training bursaries and £4,000 golden hellos for skills
shortage subjects.
Miliband
said: "Recruitment to teacher training this year is 20 per cent higher
than in 1999/2000 – that’s more than 5,000 more people who want to teach – and
today’s figures are a hopeful sign that this trend is continuing."
